I’ve been feeling a little hesitant to go back to my revised draft. I feel like it will take so long just to get it to a point where I feel the story is really showing itself. The story feels slow and boring, but that might also be because I read it 6 or 7 times in a row.
Instead of toiling away at a story I don’t feel 100% committed to, I decided to give a try to something else. Think of it as taking a bit of recovery time, or a de-load during weightlifting, to work on form and let your muscles rest a bit. Sometimes you just need a break.
I’m trying my hand at short stories. I’ve tried this before and for some reason, it is SO HARD to finish a short story. It takes an oddly long time to write something so short. To keep my head more toward progress and learning, I chose themes from submissions that have already closed. This way I don’t feel like there’s some deadline coming up, or that it’s never going to be good enough for that submission. It puts me in the mindset that these stories are purely for improvement.
I’ve gotten halfway through my first one. I have a couple other ideas, but I’m finding that short stories are definitely a different beast all together. Short stories require extreme attention to details, character development, and clear settings all in a very short space. Every word counts. Whereas novels I’m used to the steady slow pacing that give me lots of time and space to write out the details and introduce characters.
It’s a fun new challenge! I’m sure the new techniques will come in handy during NaNoWriMo.
Happy Writing!
Rachel
Subtle Stories 